Making college a realistic goal

For many local high school students, college isn’t a given. If anything, it’s an abstract word that bears no real meaning.

“I never knew about college,” said Danny Renteria, a senior at Ocean View High School. “I knew about high school and after that you start working.”

Renteria didn’t know much about college until he got involved with the Orange County Community Housing Corporation’s Stepping Up program. He had figured he wouldn’t even graduate from high school. But after his involvement with the program, college is looking more and more realistic.

About a month ago, the program made college a concrete reality for Renteria and 39 other students as they toured a number of Northern California four-year universities during a seven-day trip.

“This is very out of the norm for most of the students,” said Monica Cardenas, who was responsible for leading the trip. “For most of them it’s the first time they’ve left home or even left the county of Orange. It’s the first time they get to see a lot of places they’ve only seen and heard about.”

The students visited campuses like Stanford, UC Davis, San Jose State and the University of San Francisco. They also visited sites like San Francisco, Hearst Castle and the state capitol along the way.

Laura Cordosa, a sophomore attending Liberty Christian School in Huntington Beach on a basketball scholarship, was inspired by the trip.

“You don’t have to stay in one community,” she said. “You can always go out — you never really notice that until you go out and experience it. I just want to strive for more. You can reach your goals. You don’t have to limit yourself.”

She was impressed by UC Davis the most, and though no one in her immediate family has gone to college, Cordosa has her sights set on the university. More than anything else, Cordosa is glad she now has a much clearer idea of the options available to her.

“At first I thought I was going to go to community college and not to a UC,” she said. “I didn’t even know about UC colleges. I didn’t even know the difference between UC, Cal State and a community college.”

“There’s just so much that the students take away from this trip,” Cardenas said. “I do think it’s a shock, but [there is] a sense of excitement and the realization that they could be there and actually attend these schools.”

Like Cordosa, Renteria enjoyed his visit to UC Davis the most. He’s less than a year away from becoming the first person in his family to graduate from high school, and has plans to study mechanical engineering at community college before transferring to a four-year school — possibly Davis.

Though he’s unsure of how he’s going to pay for school, he says that the guidance from Stepping Up has provided him with the motivation to carry out his goals.

“They said that it doesn’t matter if you can’t afford it,” Renteria said. “There’s always a way. If there’s a will, there’s a way.”

HOW TO HELP

Donations may be sent to Orange County Community Housing Corporation, 1833 E. 17th Street, Suite 207, Santa Ana, CA, 90262. For more information, visit www.occhc.org.